Want to be notified of posts like this as soon as they're published? Get our Discord Webhook to always get the latest news in Azeroth!

In addition to announcing a tentative date for Nighthold, Blizzard also revealed that some tuning adjustments are coming next week to Trial of Valor.

Blizzard

As the holidays approach, we wanted to take a chance to share some information on an upcoming raid tuning adjustment as well as the release date for Nighthold.

Trial of Valor will see a set of tuning adjustments next week, focused mainly on Heroic and Mythic difficulty, which should help groups overcome the challenges of the Trial as they prepare for Nighthold.

Which brings us to the release date for Nighthold itself: We are aiming to unlock Normal and Heroic Nighthold on January 17, 2017. Raid Finder wings and Mythic difficulty will release during the weeks following, which we will share more specific details on at a later time.

We look forward to seeing you in the Nighthold!They have said before that 7.1.5 and Nighthold release are independent of each other

They are independent of each other.

As another note, this means that and will become unobtainable with the release of Nighthold on January 17.

You are still going to release Nighthold with the state of the PTR as it is?

Nighthold =/= 7.1.5

Edit: To clarify a bit, and expand on something I should have mentioned originally - with this I meant the PTR is in flux, and there's a lot of tuning to be done still prior to 7.1.5 and Nighthold's release - but we also don't agree that the state of the PTR is bad. We wouldn't drop a patch with major class changes in the middle of a raid tier, as even we agree that would be silly.

Check out the loot and abilities for each Nighthold boss on the linked pages below. Detailed strategy guides coming soon!

– Deep within the foundations of the Nighthold, beneath the sea, lie long-forgotten vaults that give access to the Nightwell itself. This monstrous armored scorpid has made its home in one of these vaults. Infused with the power of the Nightwell, and surrounded by a teeming brood, Skorpyron presents a serious complication to an otherwise-promising back entry to the Nighthold.

– The cavern at the base of the Nightwell is a maelstrom of raw energy, as the power to fuel an entire civilization courses from the earth. Born from this chaotic flux, the Chronomatic Anomaly is an embodiment of the power of the Eye of Aman'thul. As it lashes out with energy attacks, the bursts of energy warp the very flow of time.

– Trilliax, once proud servant to the nightborne aristocracy, has been discarded and left to slowly deteriorate among other surplus constructs. While an unwavering will to carry out its tasks remains, the passage of time has splintered this construct's personality matrix. It now unpredictably switches from one mode to the next, ranging from doting caretaker to homicidal sterilizer, craving recognition and validation from a master that no longer exists.

– Aluriel always had an affinity for magic. She rose through the ranks of the Nightguard effortlessly, having a natural talent with the sword. But no matter how strong she became, she wanted more. She studied with the mages at the University of Suramar, spending her days in combat training and her evenings in the artificery. She forged her weapons and armor in the Nightwell, weaving magic spells into the precious metals. She is the first Spellblade, adept in the schools of Fire, Frost and Arcane.

– The dreadlord Tichondrius, once leader of the nathrezim, was once slain by the newly-awakened power of none other than Illidan Stormrage. Reconstituted in the Twisting Nether, Tichondrius returns to watch over Gul'dan on behalf of the Legion, ensuring that the orc warlock does not once again fail his masters.

– This colossal doom lord, one of the largest and mightiest creatures in the armies of the Legion, was defeated at the Broken Shore through the combined might of the greatest heroes of the Horde and the Alliance. Having recovered from his wounds, Krosus emerges from the bay between the Nighthold and the Tomb of Sargeras to crush any who would oppose the Legion.

– From his youth, the nightborne Tel'arn was fascinated by plant life: the resilience and adaptability of weeds, the ability of simple grass to harness the power of the sun, the way a tree may be divided into two, or two branches grafted into one. Aided by the energies of the Nightwell, he has transformed himself to the point that he is scarely recognizable as a nightborne elf. He now considers himself something far, far greater.

– The nightborne astromancer Etraeus has devoted long years of research to scouring the skies of Azeroth, seeking answers to the great mysteries of the universe. His scrying has shown him worlds beyond our ken, and the power of the Nightwell allows him to draw upon the essence of those worlds to amplify his own powers.

– Elisande once distinguished herself by resisting the Legion. She and her highborne followers broke away from Queen Azshara and the dark path she was taking, harnessing the power of the Eye of Aman'Thul to create the Nightwell to protect Suramar from the Sundering. But over ten thousand years later, the Legion's arrival offered her no such recourse. She has cast her lot with the demons, hoping to once again use the power of the Nightwell - albeit this time in a very different sense - to save her people.

– The chain of events set in motion when Garrosh escaped to Draenor has continued, unbroken for all its twists and turns, leading to this very moment. Thwarted in Draenor, Gul'dan now stands on the precipice of achieving ultimate victory on behalf of his Legion masters. Standing atop the Nighthold, as the vortex of fel energy swirls in the skies overhead, the outcast orc warlock awaits his destiny.

The mounts have generally always been something of a prestige thing for Mythic raiders or just higher-end raiding in general. It's odd that it has a chance to drop on Normal+ now, but it's worth considering that Normal's difficulty is but a step up from LFR and as the expansion goes on, it'll become far more accessible and faster to do for those with little free time. This is also hardly a reason to start hating raids - I'd be more inclined to criticize various points of lacking approachability.

Commento di WowheadCommenter

on 2016-12-15T18:13:16-06:00

The mounts have generally always been something of a prestige thing for Mythic raiders or just higher-end raiding in general. It's odd that it has a chance to drop on Normal+ now, but it's worth considering that Normal's difficulty is but a step up from LFR and as the expansion goes on, it'll become far more accessible and faster to do for those with little free time. This is also hardly a reason to start hating raids - I'd be more inclined to criticize various points of lacking approachability.

It's not that weird actually, this is how it worked in Firelands (100% drop from heroic, low drop on normal) and Dragon Soul (two mounts, the second had a 100% drop on heroic, the first a chance to drop from both difficulties).

Commento di SerialChiller

on 2016-12-15T18:32:15-06:00

The mounts have generally always been something of a prestige thing for Mythic raiders or just higher-end raiding in general. It's odd that it has a chance to drop on Normal+ now, but it's worth considering that Normal's difficulty is but a step up from LFR and as the expansion goes on, it'll become far more accessible and faster to do for those with little free time. This is also hardly a reason to start hating raids - I'd be more inclined to criticize various points of lacking approachability.

The difficulties have changed a lot too. LFR nowadays is more a tool for people who've never raided, where as the normal difficulty now is more like how lfr was like in MoP. I mean, most people were pugging Emerald Nightmare normal the week it came out and beating the entire raid in 3-4 hours with some bosses not even wiping at all.

Commento di Swinny

When you got a mount from LFR before? You hate raid but asking for something which drops for dedicated players, that's hypocritical.Judging by their wowhead profile, I'm not surprised in the slightest that they "despise" raiding

Commento di AKPlayer

on 2016-12-15T19:24:58-06:00

YEAH! More cool raids... love it... Thanks for the update!

Commento di Tombsv

on 2016-12-15T19:47:19-06:00

Just out of curiosity. How come lfr and mythic always have later dates? Is it because of balance issues?

Commento di G1zStar

on 2016-12-15T20:00:32-06:00

Mythic a week after heroic and normal lets them due additional tuning and fix bugs.As for LFR not sure one reason I can think of is with how much split raids are being done releasing LFR later lets people stay in normal and heroic and not have to go into LFR for trinkets, etc. Or they just prefer those who would raid LFR to be raiding normal .

Commento di TheMostUnfunny

on 2016-12-15T20:05:16-06:00

So what's the point of heroic raids if there is also Mythic and Normal? Wasn't it fine with just Heroic, Normal, and LFR? Idk, maybe it's just me.

Commento di Kekt0nic

on 2016-12-15T20:10:24-06:00

Just out of curiosity. How come lfr and mythic always have later dates? Is it because of balance issues?

Because quite frankly people sitting in a queue shouldn't get to experience a final boss before actual raiders.

Commento di SilverDragon234

on 2016-12-15T20:19:11-06:00

Finally. Gul'dan will pay for taking Varian and Vol'jin away!

Commento di Sinstalker

on 2016-12-15T20:21:23-06:00

I wish we could still get raid quests done in LFR so when Nighthold comes out it will be easier to finish Balance of Power and unlock the artifact appearance. I have been so busy w/ RL I have had very little time raid and complete what is needed for it. I am sure there are a lot of ppl in the same boat...oh well.

Commento di Caerule

on 2016-12-15T20:57:14-06:00

Just out of curiosity. How come lfr and mythic always have later dates? Is it because of balance issues?

By delaying LFR they prevent Normal and higher level raiders from feeling obligated to run it during the first few weeks, to maximize their gear upgrades. Blizzard's objective is making LFR something that you do not have to run if you raid Normal or higher every week. Delaying it, helps people resist that compulsion.

Feeling "forced" to run LFR in order to be competitive is a strongly heard complaint in the past.

Anyway, a month away for a new raid. Good job Blizz, as far as I'm concerned. Happy holidays everyone.